Hey everyone, I'm 18 years old and the past three months I have had terrible constipation the first day of my period. Literally at the first sign of a flow I become hunched over in pain. I feel severely constipated. The only thing I can do is crawl into bed and sleep away the cramps. The pain subsides after about 8 hours but I remain constipated throughout the rest of the day. I try to stay away from OTC laxatives as they usually aggravate the pain and give no immediate relief. My flow is usually short (1-4 days) During this time, my BM are very light and infrequent. Once the bleeding ceases, I have diarrhea and my bloat goes down but the constipation during my period has disrupted my life. Now I also feeling PMS like symptoms a few days after my period (water retention, anxiety, cravings) Are my hormones out of whack?

Is this normal due to a flux in hormones? Should I consult my GP/Gyno??

I am an avid runner who exercises 5-6 days a week. I try and watch my diet but I do eat sugars the few days leading up to my period. The supplements I take are Vit-D, Tonalin CLE, Calcium/MG, and Maca Root(to regulate my periods -- it has relieved my PMS irritability) Could this be caused by the hormone surge caused by Maca?

cross posted to a few places! Thank you for any insight!

Thank you for any insight!!

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08-09-2009, 10:13 PM

#2

Karen128

Senior Member

(female)

Join Date: Aug 2008

Location: CA, USA

Posts: 204

Re: Severely constipated during first day of period

I don't know much about Maca root (sounds like something I should look into!), but what you're going through sounds completely normal. Your periods/symptoms are going to change over time, so you're probably not going to have such sever discomfort forever.

For now, if you're not going to go on the pill, which will regulate your hormones and make the cramps & pms less severe, I would suggest taking Alleve at the very first sign your period may be coming. Taking it before the cramps hit really helps. You can get prescription strength too if you need it. And of course drink lots and lots of water. Try working more fiber into your system slowly. Yeah, laxatives are not a good choice.

My symptoms were kind of reverse with diarrhea just before/first day, then constipation. When I was your age I didn't have any PMS, just the cramps. Now at 36 there are no cramps, but I have PMS before.

dayandage: Here are a few suggestions: If you're drinking water that's good. You can also try increasing the amount of "P" fruits you eat - pears, peaches, pineapple, prunes, etc. Increase your nut intake. Fiber is good too. Also, you could try adding magnesium supplements without the calcium. Your body will know when you have enough magnesium because you'll end up with the diarrhea. Try to stay away from the BRAT foods: Bananas, rice, apples, & toast. Those are the foods you want to eat when you GET the diarrhea. I had problems like this when I was younger and still do. I'd get really constipated before the period and then once it came my body would clean out. I think hormones are in the picture here but I'd stay away from birth control if you really don't need it. You could also try putting a liitle progesterone cream on your wrists before bed to see if that might help. You can buy it at any healthfood store. I don't know about MACA either. What is tonalin/CLE? Fill us in on those.